Updated 5/18/20

Implementing the strict guidelines, Giles County judicial system returned to business in another step toward southern Middle Tennessee’s return to a “new normal.”
The local courts returned to in-person business after Circuit Court Judge J. Russell Parkes drafted a plan to reopen district courthouses that was reviewed and approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
In all courts of the state’s 22nd Judicial District, including  Giles, Maury, Lawrence and Wayne counties, access to the courthouse was limited to court personnel and essential employees, those filing matters or pleadings with the court clerk or litigants and counsel for scheduled court hearings.
No more than 10 people are allowed in the county’s courtrooms at any given time and those inside the district’s courthouses must follow stringent social distancing guidelines.
The approved return allows Giles County and other local courtrooms across the state to begin working through a loaded backlog of cases caused by the extended shutdown of the coronavirus pandemic in Tennessee.
The state Supreme Court suspended all in-person court proceedings on Friday, March 13th after Governor Bill Lee declared a state of emergency.
Last week, Assistant District Attorney Becky Parsons and Victim Witness Coordinator Sherry Hill set up outside of the Giles County Courthouse to continue work.
“A pandemic won’t stop justice,” District Attorney Brent Cooper said. “You just have to improvise.”